Author's Notes
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This is an alternate universe story. Many things have been purposefully changed; some drastic, some minor. If you're looking for a story that's grounded in the original FF7 world, this is probably not what you're after. However, if you can keep an open mind and not compare Altered Reality to the game itself, I feel you'll enjoy the story.
In keeping with the spirit of the Final Fantasy games, I've placed several things in the story at different points to pay homage to other games, movies, and music that I like. So, if you're reading and you notice something in the story that seems familiar to you, then it may very well be me tipping my hat to the things I enjoy.
This version of AR has been censored for language. An uncensored version is available on my website which you can find in my profile.
A new chapter will come each week, so check back often.
If you have any questions, ask them in your review, and I'll address them as best I can in the next chapter's Author's Notes.
Anyone who read chapter one when I first posted it here last year, I encourage you to read it again. Chapter one was changed slightly in order to keep it consistent with the rest of the story.
I hope you enjoy reading Altered Reality as much as I loved writing it.
Luminus
Prelude
The Birth of God
The nations of the east were shattered; long years of war had destroyed any semblance of unity that mankind had once attained. With this lack of brotherhood came a thirst for violence as power hungry men and women fought one another for control. It was a time of fear; every village, town, and city was on its own as they battled for supremacy. Violence had stolen away their grand countries and allegiances, yet they chose violence once more in their futile attempt to reform what they had lost. Compassion and kindness faded, eroded by greed and the hatred that permeated all life on the world.
It was in this time of darkness and despair that a seemingly insignificant event occurred in the small town of Kalm. The mayor had sent his son and a few guards to the north to investigate rumors of unusual activities by the local creatures, but they had not returned. Search parties were sent out only to discover that the small group had been slaughtered by monsters as they had traveled. The bodies were brought back to the town, but few showed interest in what had happened; death was commonplace and the loss of the mayor's son was of no consequence to anyone but him. It was not until the son's funeral that the people of Kalm took note of this unimportant youth. As the mayor wept his way through a eulogy, the young man's corpse rose up from his coffin, his wounds gone as if they'd never existed, and he was dead no longer.
Shock spread through the crowd like wild fire as the resurrected youth spoke to the people gathered there, telling them that he had been chosen to come back from beyond to lead humanity to peace. At first, few believed him as most were too confused by this event to think clearly, but as the days passed their doubts were erased. The reborn youth began performing acts and miracles that even the most skillful of mages could only dream of. Word of his resurrection and newfound powers spread quickly through Kalm until all there believed him and listened earnestly to every word he spoke. Soon the news crept to other cities and people began making their way to Kalm to see if such wild rumors were true. Those who met with him quickly returned to their homes to tell all those that they knew about the unbelievable news; Rufus Shinra had died and returned as a god to bring peace to their war-torn world.
Over the next thirty years the wars of the eastern continent were brought to an end as a new and stable government was forged to pave the way for the future. The Holy Shinra Empire was created alongside of the Church of the Divine Emperor, as Rufus became called by the people. The city of Midgar was founded to the north-west of Kalm, and thus history would be forever changed. The influence of the Holy Shinra Empire grew daily, spreading to the Frozen North and the inner continent. Slowly Rufus' followers grew in numbers and the borders of his Empire expanded.
Unfortunately, things would not remain so simple. As the Holy Shinra Empire gained more and more ground on the inner continent, it drew the attention of the only other truly organized government in the world. The Republic of Wutai, which spanned the entire continent of Wutai as well as sporadic territories on the inner continent, became fearful of the Holy Shinra Empire's size and proximity. After so many years of striving to maintain peaceful relationships with the other peoples and cultures that existed on the inner continent, the Holy Shinra Empire was encroaching upon their borders. Fearful that the Empire's missionaries would steal away their citizens and their land, Wutai refused to allow emissaries from Rufus to enter into their cities.
The people of the Holy Shinra Empire were outraged at Wutai's refusal to hear the message of love and peace that Rufus' had brought to their world. Tension between the two nations escalated as more of the inner continent accepted Rufus' teachings and became part of the Holy Shinra Empire, causing it to grow larger by the day. Protests began to mount outside of Wutai territories and it quickly became dangerous for Wutai citizens to venture outside of their cities.
The dispute reached a fever pitch when Wutai officials declared that they would remain resolute in their refusal to be swayed by the teachings of Rufus Shinra, even going so far as to declare him a false god. The effect of their accusation was instantaneous. News spanned the Holy Shinra Empire of the "non-believers", prompting the Empire's citizens to view the Wutai people as heathen. Though Rufus himself attempted to calm his people, many were beyond reason; their god had been insulted, and such a thing demanded a response.
Rioters composed of the more fanatical of Rufus' followers began to spring up around Wutai cities, and they were met with harsh resistance by local authorities which resulted in fatalities on both sides. In the beginning the Holy Shinra Empire refused to declare war, claiming that they wished to calm the matter and find a peaceful solution. However, with their people on the inner continent now being threatened, the Republic of Wutai took measures into their own hands and began deploying soldiers to their borders. Forced to respond in kind or leave themselves open to possible invasion, the Holy Shinra Imperial Army was dispatched and stationed likewise. Although no one truly knows who struck first, the armies soon began to clash and what had begun as riots quickly grew into a full fledged holy war.
Now, forty-three years after the first battle took place, and nearly eighty years since Rufus first came back from the dead to lead mankind, the war with Wutai still wages on. Although the Republic of Wutai's home continent has never been invaded, they have lost much of what they once owned on the inner continent. It is well known that the Holy Shinra Empire had the size and capabilities to end the war long ago, but Rufus refuses to allow his armies to fully assault the Republic.
From his tower in Midgar, a city which grew so large that it was divided into eight sectors each the size of a normal city, the Divine Emperor continues to hope for a peaceful solution. However, in recent years demonic beasts have begun sporadically appearing across the Empire, attacking man, woman, and child without prejudice. Although the Church of the Divine Emperor has never declared so, many believe these demons to be in league with Wutai. After all the years of war and with both nations being so polarized in their beliefs that they despise the other, will the battle ever truly end and bring about the age of peace that Rufus promised he would lead the world to? Or will the future spiral further into madness than ever before?
Chapter I
Miseria Cantare
It was a beautiful day in the cold forest of Icicle. The sun was high, sending down rays of light that punctured through the canopy of trees and offered warmth to the small patches of earth that it reached. On the ground the Icicle Petals, for which the forest was named, bloomed everywhere. They were a unique species of flowers that seemed to thrive in the cold regions of the north, and especially here in this place. Their light blue stems and nearly crystalline petals were truly a sight to behold, and as the sunlight flooded down and touched them the light was reflected and redirected off of the petals, forming beautiful streaks of color that crisscrossed all over the forest. This was Aerith Gainsborough's favorite time of day.
Quiet steps carried the young girl over the snow and she was very careful not to step on any of the flowers. The long, thick red coat that covered her from neck to feet hid the fact that she was as beautiful as the flowers she so adored. Deep breaths were taken, and her light pink lips spread in a warm smile as her bright green eyes took in the breathtaking scenery. As she walked, she reached up with one black gloved hand and tucked a few strands of light brown hair that had fallen out of place behind her ear. The rest of her hair was perfectly positioned in a long braid in the back with a violet ribbon tied into it and two incredibly curly bangs hanging down on each side of her pretty, round face. In the crook of her left arm, she held a basket that was already filled with several of the flowers, and she now crouched down and picked a few more.
Gathering flowers was a habit she had adopted long ago, and she now left her tiny village and came to the forest at least once a week to do so; it was one of the many things that brought her joy in her quiet, peaceful life. Yet this morning was not like the others; this time Aerith was not alone. As she pulled one of the small flowers from the ground and placed it in her basket, she heard a sound to her left. Turning her head quickly, she let out a scream and stumbled back, falling to her rear end as a massive, white furred creature began stalking towards her. Its long neck stretched out as it growled at her, the claws on its front paws elongating while it approached.
Her eyes widened with horror, Aerith tried to get to her feet and run, but the creature swatted at her, its paw landing sharply on her right leg, buckling it and sending her crashing back to the ground. Aerith cried out in pain, and wasted no time in holding her hands up towards the monster as a burst of fire erupted from her gloves and struck the beast on one of its arms. The monster wasn't phased at all. Aerith had learned long ago that she was naturally skilled at both black and white magic, but she'd never bothered to enhance them much. As she looked to the dripping jaws of the creature in horror, she knew that she wasn't strong enough to stop it; her life was about to end. For one terrifying moment her past began to flash before her eyes, and then as the creature raised its clawed paw up to strike her down, her eyelids shut tightly as she wordlessly uttered a prayer her mother had taught her when she was a child.
Moments later there was a ferocious cry of agony that shook the entire forest, causing tiny drops of snow and ice to rain down from the tops of the trees as if it were a blizzard, and the enormous creature lay dead at the startled girl's feet.
The opponents watched one another, waiting patiently for the other to move so that they could plot and plan their way to victory. It was silent, each of them were concentrating on the battle at hand. There could be no mistakes on either end; whoever faltered first would be the one to fall. It came time, and the white knight repositioned for a carefully planned attack, realizing only too late that it had been a mistake. The black knight came up swiftly from the left, knocking the white knight down and bringing that confrontation to a close.
"Jerk, you cheated." A young man said as he let out an annoyed sigh. Leaning back in his chair, he crossed his arms over his chest; he had a medium build to his body, but made up for his wiry structure with very well developed muscles that made him far stronger than he looked. His blond hair was a wild mess of long spikes in the front but was very short in the back. Most of the spikes were angled to the right side of his head, some falling down, and some standing up. His strangely glowing, bright blue eyes surveyed the precarious situation he'd gotten himself into as he ran a hand down his narrow jaws and over his pointed chin, knowing full well that he should have seen that move coming.
"Cheated?" His friend scoffed from across the table, rolling grey eyes as he did so. His squared jaw and wide shoulders made it clear that he was the older of the two; he had a good five years on the blond. In sharp contrast to his friend, who seemed small in comparison, he had a fairly broad build. His hair was similar to his friends: spiked and messy, but his was black, and almost all the spikes angled towards the back of his head. His hair was also much longer, falling down past his shoulders where it swayed as he shook his head in a firm negative to his friend's accusation.
"It's not my fault you weren't paying attention." Then with a devious grin he whispered, "Maybe next time you should focus a little harder on the board instead of watching Tifa bend over to pick up a glass."
The blond's eyes narrowed swiftly as he gave his friend a look that could kill, "Shut up, Zach. I wasn't looking. Besides, how do you know she was bending over?"
"Because, Cloud." Zach continued grinning, "I'm not in denial."
"I hate you." Cloud said as he leaned back in his chair and looked over the chess pieces to determine his next move. The two of them were sitting inside of the Seventh Heaven bar, but they were the only patrons at the time. They had arrived not thirty minutes earlier after waking up and putting on their dark blue Holy Shinra Imperial Army uniforms, the belts of which were marked with a symbol that identified them as members of the army's elite Special Operations unit. They were both very proud of their ranks; it was highly unusual for anyone their age to be in such an advanced unit. Tifa, the owner of the Seventh Heaven, was a childhood friend of Cloud's who had decided to move to Midgar with him when he'd enlisted to serve in the Army just five years prior. The bar wasn't much, but Tifa managed to make it alright from month to month, and since she lived in the upstairs area it cut down her expenses quite a lot.
As the two of them bickered back and forth, Tifa quietly walked to their table and slid into an empty seat, placing three glasses and a pitcher of ale down as she did so. To say that the girl was attractive would be a severe understatement; she had an indescribably curvaceous figure that was just the right size in all the right places. On top of that was the fact that she was a rather skilled martial artist, and her exercises kept her body fit and very nicely muscled. She was clothed in a pair of tight black shorts that extended to just above her knees, and an off white t-shirt that hugged her skin in eye-catching ways. The finishing touch, though, was her face; a heart shaped vision of beauty that fell somewhere between adorably cute and viciously sexy. She smiled at the both of them and tossed her long, chocolate hair over her shoulders as began pouring each of them a drink.
"You boys stop your fighting," she said with a voice that was as cute as her appearance. "What are you doing playing this anyway? No offense, but it doesn't really seem like the kind of game you would be interested in."
The two of them thanked her and took their glasses. Cloud took a sip of the alcoholic beverage before responding to her inquiry, "Lieutenant General Zahn likes the game, says it helps us learn to think tactics out thoroughly."
"Mmm," a noise of acknowledgement from the girl. "I'd say it's working like a charm on you."
Zach snickered at her sarcastic remark before raising his glass to his lips for a drink. Cloud merely shook his head at the girl, "And to think, I call you my best friend."
"Oh, stop it." Tifa reached out and pushed him lightly on the shoulder. Cloud played along and rocked back a little as if she'd actually tried to knock him over.
"And now you try to make me fall! Geez," he looked over to Zach, who was chuckling quietly to himself, "You think you know some one, and then bam!"
The older soldier shrugged and smiled, "You never can tell. Behind that pretty face lays the mind of a devil."
Tifa laughed at the both of them before finally lifting her own glass into her hand to take a slow drink. As she lowered the thick glass back to the table top she let out a small yawn and stretched her arms out, "So, when are you guys leaving tonight?"
"Pretty late," Cloud said as he leaned forward, propping himself up with his elbows on the edge of the table. "Lieutenant General Zahn wants us to travel at night since that's when the monster problems have been the worst. He figures we might spot something on our way."
Tifa nodded, understanding. "Any idea when you'll be back?"
"We're supposed to report to High Priestess Elena at the cathedral in Kalm." Realizing that their game had been forgotten, Zach began toying with the chess pieces on his side of the board. "I assume anything that involves her directly will take us some time to deal with."
"Ah, what a life." Cloud said with a laugh, "Join the army, serve the Divine Emperor, take care of the monsters that the normal soldiers are too stupid to handle. Just what I signed up for!"
Tifa giggled, but Zach just rolled his shoulders in another shrug. "It's not so bad. Gets us out of the city for a few days at least. Besides, it means that the Lieutenant General likes us; he only chooses his best to go on field missions like this. Maybe we'll get a promotion."
"Oh come on, Zach. We all knew that he liked you long before this; you're the biggest suck up in the unit."
"I'm the suck up?" Zach scoffed. "I could have sworn that was your job."
"No, that's definitely you. Besides-" Cloud cut off with a sudden gasp of pain as his hands went up to rub at his temples.
"Are you okay?" Tifa asked as her brows knitted with worry.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Cloud said as he blinked his eyes and shook his head. "That was weird. My head just started hurting, and for a second I saw some forest with snow everywhere."
"Right." Zach said as the chess piece he was toying with was promptly thrown at Cloud's forehead, but the younger soldier managed to deflect it and send it bouncing into his glass of ale. "I think you'd better lay off the booze for a while man, you're going mental."
"Damn it!" Cloud said as he grabbed his glass and stared at the chess piece lying at the bottom. "Look what you made me do!"
"Serves you right, being a bully to your friends." Tifa said as her bright smile returned.
"I'm a bully?" Cloud scoffed as he picked the piece out of his drink and wiped it off on his pants. "He's bigger than me, how can I be the bully?"
"Because I'm the nice guy." Zach said, flashing a grin towards his friend and a wink to Tifa, who just chuckled at him.
"Now I didn't say that," Tifa continued to joke.
"Okay, maybe not nice," Zach admitted. "But certainly better than this living oxymoron over here."
Cloud rolled his eyes, knowing instantly what it was his friend was referring to, "God, when are you going to get off of that? It's not like I wanted to be good at white magic."
"No, no. It's not so bad." Zach laughed, "I think we should use it as an advertisement: Sector Seven Defense Force, home of the world's only swordsman healer; he'll cut you down, then fix you up!"
"Ha ha," Cloud said, his voice tinged with fake annoyance. "At least it's better than you two; materia-mage and grey magic caster, you guys are just dripping with skill."
"Hey," Tifa complained. "Grey has its uses. It's great for when I can't sleep, or when a certain immature little blond boy needs to shut up."
"Aw," whined Cloud, trying to sound upset. "That's just mean."
"Well, you deserved it." Zach paused for a moment before adding, "Again."
"You guys are terrible." Tifa laughed as she scooted her chair back and stood up. Tilting her head slightly, she looked at the clock above the bar and frowned. "Probably have customers soon," she said absentmindedly. Looking back to them she continued, "Guess I better go get a bath. Mind watching the bar for me until I'm done?"
"No problem," Cloud happily said. "We still have about an hour before we need to get ready to leave."
Tifa smiled and nodded, "Okay. I'll get done real fast and then we can get something to eat before you go."
The two of them nodded their approval of her idea and watched as she headed upstairs where they could hear running water a few moments later. Now alone in the bar, Zach looked to Cloud and shook his head, a look of disappointment on his face.
"What?" the blond asked in confusion.
"Opportunity wasted, man." Zach said as he reached to his right and picked up his weapon, a five inch wide, fifty inch long cleaving blade that he'd nicknamed Buster Sword, and toyed with it. "You should have gone with her."
That comment prompted an incredibly annoyed expression to cross Cloud's features, "Shut up, Zach. You know I can't do that. She's like a sister to me."
"A sister, huh? Is that why you're always peeking at her breasts while she's not looking?"
"Yeah, well." Cloud's face didn't hide his distaste for where this conversation was going, "I said she's like a sister, but she's not, so it can't hurt."
"I just don't understand you," Zach said in utter disbelief. "Look, she's hot, she's your best friend, and she's trying her best to get you to notice her. How can you not go for that?"
"Tch. I can give you the first two, but I don't buy that last one."
"Oh, come on!" Zach groaned as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "She moved here to stay close to you, didn't she? I'd say that's a big sign."
Cloud shook his head, "You don't know that. Nibelheim was a worthless little town; she was always itching to leave. My decision to come to Midgar just gave her the final push."
"Yeah, because she wanted to stay close to you." Zach's tone left a non-verbal 'duh' at the end of his sentence.
A sigh of frustration left Cloud's lips; he was quickly growing tired of this line of questioning. "Okay, listen. Maybe she is interested in me like that, but it wouldn't be right. There was no one else at home that she could really go after, and since I had always been her friend she kind of attached to me like that."
"So, you think she was only interested in you because you were the only guy who was really available, and so you don't want to take advantage of that?"
Cloud nodded, and Zach threw another chess piece at him.
"You dumb ass," Zach said as his ignorant friend caught the bishop. "If that were the case, she'd have already fallen for me. I'm much better looking, and god knows I've actually tried to get her to pay attention to me. Trust me, buddy, you're not a last resort to her."
Another sigh was let out and Cloud shook his head again, "Look, would you just drop it?" Searching for a fast way out of the conversation, he handed Zach the piece that was in his hand and began setting the white side of the board up again. "Let's play another game real fast."
"Suit yourself, Cloud." Zach shrugged and began rearranging the black pieces on his side of the board. "But she's not going to wait around for you to stop being an idiot forever."
Cloud didn't respond, he merely finished with his pieces and moved one of his pawns forward to start the game. In the back of his mind, he knew that Zach was right, but he didn't know what to do about it.
The Caster News Network; created fifteen years ago by the Empires Magic and Technology Research Division, it was a system that allowed the transfer of full motion video all over the world. There were only a handful of actual caster spheres, all located within important Imperial structures, such as the palace. They were used to capture moving pictures and voices from Imperial spokespeople. The captured video was then dispersed on an invisible wave that any properly tuned viewing device could receive and play back.
Deep beneath the city of Midgar, one such receiver was activated. The device hummed to life and began emitting a light that hit against the dirty grey wall behind it, producing video of a man reporting the day's Imperial news. The image on the wall flickered as the spokesperson discussed the results of an investigation into an explosion at Branch Thirteen of the Magic and Technology Research Division five days prior. As the man announced the findings, the four people watching in this underground bunker grinned in satisfaction. The report was definitive; the terrorist organization known as Avalanche had struck again.
Biggs and Wedge sat on a patched up old couch in one corner of the room, acting less like terrorists and more like kids in a candy store. They were an unusual pair, opposites in almost every way except for their ages; they were both in their mid twenties. Biggs was a lean man, but he did have some muscle on him as well. In an attempt to look more impressive than he really was, he wore baggy pants and a small t-shirt, both dark green because he thought that it was an intimidating color. Over that he wore several belts and straps, none of which seemed to serve much of a purpose except to add to his look. Biggs' hair was brushed back and became wild and messy near the rear of his head, and he wore a red bandana tied around his forehead, the tails of which hung over his left ear. Other than being slightly additional muscle, Biggs served as the team's information and supplies man. As he heard the report, he leaned back and scratched a mark onto the wall behind him, adding to the tally he had going.
Unlike Biggs, Wedge didn't fill much of a role on the team other than being their cook, but he certainly did fill space on the couch. At nearly three times the girth of his friend, Wedge was noticeably overweight. Apparently, he realized that he couldn't do much to make himself seem impressive like Biggs tried so hard to do, so he had long ago decided he didn't care how he looked. As a result, Wedge wore a rather odd combination of colors: bright blue pants and a pale yellow shirt, neither of them all that loose on him. A red bandana donned his head as well, but he wore it over the top of his head rather than around it, and tufts of messy black hair stuck out from beneath it. Like Biggs, he too wore many straps, but his were actually there for good reasons; one set held his pants in place by crossing over his shoulders, while another contained a few explosives for him to use since he wasn't exactly the most skilled in combat. Laughing at his friends old fashioned score card, Wedge took a sloppy bite of a rather large sandwich he was holding and went back to watching the receiver.
The person who'd made the explosives for Wedge sat apart from them in a ratty old chair. Jessie was a pretty girl who currently had her looks hidden beneath a mask of grease and oil that made her light brown eyes stand out even more than usual. Though she was the youngest member at twenty-one, she was arguably the most important; it was her skills with bombs that gave Avalanche its ability to attack with power. She wore forest green pants and a navy shirt that weren't exactly loose on her lithe form. Coincidentally, she was the only one of the group who wore armor in the form of a breast plate that truly lived up to its name thanks to its form fitting designed that accentuated her figure rather well. Beneath the soft brown bangs and pony tail of her hair she wore her red bandana in the same fashion that Biggs did. A beaming smile of pride touched her cute cheeks as the report made mention of the explosive device that had brought down a three story building in less than twenty seconds.
The three of them congratulated each other on making the news again, once more striking fear into the hearts of the Imperials. Their leader, however, said nothing, choosing instead to remain silent as he stood in another corner of the room and watched the report go on. Practically everything about him made him stand out from the others. In fact, aside from his clothing which resembled Bigg's choice in style, he didn't fit in with the rest of them very well at all. Standing just over six feet tall, Barret was a walking mass of muscles. From his broad shoulders, to his squared jaw, to his menacing glare, everything about him was intimidating. Small scars were present all over his dark skinned body, a testament to all that the thirty-five year old man had been through in his life. He was the only one with facial hair, a scruffy goatee, and the only one who didn't wear a bandana of any sort over his short cropped, dark hair. Of course, the most striking thing about him was his right arm. It was covered from the elbow down in a bulky black glove that he never seemed to take off. As the report wrapped up, he heard the words he'd been dreading from the start.
"Luckily," the spokesman on the wall said, "No major projects were lost in the terrorist attack, and all work has been resumed in earnest at other facilities."
"Mother ----er," Barret cursed, his voice gruff and clearly agitated. That particular line was something the Turks always told the caster reporters to say if Avalanche hadn't destroyed what they were going after. It was a way of telling the terrorists that they'd failed again. "Another dead end."
The celebration swiftly ended as the others heard the announcement. Despite all their attacks, they never seemed to slow Shinra's Research Division down; their failures were beginning to become discouraging.
"Man, I was sure we had them that time," Jessie sighed in disappointment as she toyed with her ponytail. "And I made a special bomb just for that place."
Taking another bite of his lunch, Wedge let out a belch and said "At least we cost them some money."
"Not enough, chubby. I doubt they care much about cash when they control most of the world." Biggs grunted as he kicked a rock across the floor, "They're always one step ahead of us."
"Shut up, you fools." Barret barked as he leaned forward in his seat, watching the video feed intensely. "Something's up."
The group silenced and looked back to the flickering image on the wall as the news continued, "In a rather abrupt turn of events, the Divine Emperor Rufus Shinra has left the grand city of Midgar for only the second time this year. Apparently, the Emperor departed early this morning, just before sunrise. When asked why the Emperor had left without giving word of his intentions in advance, Director Tseng of the Turks Intelligence Agency said that the Emperor felt a sudden need to journey across the Empire and visit his people. Tseng was kind enough to inform us that the Emperor would be gone for some time, and that his journey would begin in his hometown of Kalm and end after visiting over thirty villages, towns, and cities across the world."
The spokesperson continued, but the four members of Avalanche were no longer listening, they had heard all they needed to hear. They were all quiet, letting the news sink in as they thought about the possibilities. It was Biggs who first said what they were all thinking, a wide grin on his face as his eyes sparkled.
"Rufus is gone." He said. "Dude, we can get away with anything!"
"Without the Emperor, the Imperials will be lost!" Jessie said excitedly, "They won't be able to see our attacks coming as fast, or react as quickly!"
Wedge nodded enthusiastically, "We gotta take advantage of this!"
Cracking the knuckles hidden beneath that large glove, Barret's lips parted in a devilish smile that didn't do well at masking his intentions. "Well boys n' girls, looks like we just got ourselves a lucky break. Jessie, you got something made up we can use right away?"
She gave her boss a sly look and a thumb up, "You know it."
"That's my girl; you two go help her get ready." Barret jerked a thumb towards the door and the three of them jumped up and hurried to Jessie's work room for supplies.
The Avalanche leader stood and walked to a map on the wall. His thick gloved hand moved a finger over the layout of Midgar, trying to decide on a target to hit in this opportune moment before he finally decided on one of the northern complexes.
"I think you can aim higher than that, Barret." Came a quiet voice from behind him.
Barret whirled around, his hand going to the knife on his belt as he searched for the intruder, but relaxed as the man stepped into view. He really should have known who it was from the voice, not to mention the fact that there was only one other person who knew the way to Avalanche's hideout.
"What are you doing here, Reeves?" He asked as the newcomer made his way over to him.
"Just thought I'd stop by and advise you on the situation." The man said, his brown eyes looking over the map with Barret. As a member of the Imperial government, Reeves wore a white suit complimented by a blue shirt and tie. He was relatively scrawny looking, thin by almost any comparison, but a man in his position didn't need brawn. As he inspected the map, he ran a hand over the thin, black goatee on his face that didn't seem to go all that well with his slicked back, neck length hair.
"We already know about Rufus being out of town." Barret said to his longtime contact within the Empire. "It was on the caster news, you know."
"Yes, but that target is far too unimportant." Reeves said, nodding to the place Barret had been looking to attack. "Given the unusual circumstances, I think you should put your attention here."
Reeves placed a finger on a certain spot on the map and Barret's eyes narrowed as memories flooded back to him.
"You think that's safe? It's one of the biggest facilities in the Empire."
"I'm sure you, of all people, can manage." Reeves said, a smirk crossing his features as he patted Barret on his gloved arm. "Besides, you've wanted this for a long time, and this may be the only chance you ever have. You'd never be able to pull off something like this with Rufus in the city."
"Hell no, we wouldn't." Barret grimaced, weighing the possibilities in his head before reluctantly nodding. "Alright. They've had it comin' from me for a long time. It's about time I gave 'em a lil' payback."
"Good, now I have to be going before some one notices my absence and starts looking for me." Reeves smiled as he turned and began walking back out. "If I were you, I'd hurry. This could be the biggest accomplishment you've managed in a long time, and I'm sure it'd go a long way towards helping out the cause."
Barret said nothing as Reeves left. Once he was alone again he looked back to the map and to the target the well dressed man had pointed out; Branch Seven of the Magic and Technology Research Center, located in Sector Seven of Midgar. Without a word he slammed his gloved fist onto the target on the map, and as he did so a strange field of multicolored energy bursting around his hand that burned a hole in the map and scorched the wall beyond.
As bad luck would have it, the rising of the moon had brought with it a torrential downpour of rain. Lightning flashed brightly in the night sky above the city of Midgar as Cloud and Zach rode down the muddy, cobblestone streets on the backs of a pair of pale yellow chocobos; a species of large, non-flying birds that were commonly used for transportation. The two soldiers wore heavy black cloaks over their bodies and head to keep the sheets of falling water off of them. They had a seven hour journey ahead of them and they weren't about to be soaking wet the entire way.
"How lame is this?" Zach yelled out over the distant thunder so that his voice could be heard, "It just had to start raining like the world was going to end tonight, didn't it?"
"Course it did," Cloud shouted in response. "Wouldn't be fitting if we had a pleasant trip, would it?"
"Guess not!" Zach grinned as he took an unexpected shot at his friend, "Bet it'd be much nicer in Tifa's room right now!"
"Zach!" Cloud growled, "Why do I consider you a friend? Shut up about her!"
"God, man!" Zach laughed as he pulled his chocobo near Clouds so he could reach out and smack the other on the back of his head, "You keep avoiding talking about her and I'm going to start thinking you're gay!"
"Oh please," the blond rolled his eyes. "I'm more popular with the ladies than you'll ever be!"
"You know, you're right! Guess that just makes you a whore instead!"
"You're such a prick!"
"Wouldn't have it any other way, buddy!"
The both of them had a good laugh at their own immaturity; they were always amazed at how they could make the same jokes over and over and never get tired of them. If nothing else, it gave them something to do when they were bored. Still smiling, Cloud tugged the reigns of his bird and started over a bridge that he had always insisted was a short cut to the Sector Seven entry and exit gates. Zach sighed, knowing full well that this way was no faster than the main roads, but he followed anyway.
Their childish conversation continued anew as their rides trotted down the heavy wooden boards. Zach gave another comment that made Cloud reel, and to emphasize that he'd been hit below the belt, he pulled his chocobo to the left, making it seem as if they were falling over. The bird warked, and Cloud straightened it out just along the railing that overlooked a lower level of the city. The blond soldier began to pull back to where his friend was riding when something down on the street below caught his eye. Bringing his bird to a stop, Cloud peered over the edge of the bridge and squinted in the darkness, now realizing that he was seeing several people running out of an alley below and onto the main road beneath the bridge. What he was witnessing wasn't strange, it was no shock to see people running in and out of cover during a storm this heavy, but something about them made him ride to the other side of the bridge, pull out his binoculars, and watch for them again as they ran beneath.
Confused at his friend's behavior, Zach rode up along side of him and squinted down at the running individuals as well. "What's up?"
Cloud didn't respond, his eyes fixated on the group as they ran beneath the sign of a store, the light illuminating them for an instance. One of the four people stopped long enough to wave his hand to the others as if he was telling them to hurry, the light from the sign bathed him and Cloud's eyes went wide.
"Oh my god!" Cloud instantly turned his bird and sent it racing down the bridge, as he watched the direction the runners were headed from over his shoulder.
A moment later Zach caught up to him on his chocobo and shook his head in confusion, "What the hell are you doing man?"
"Didn't you see that guy?" Cloud shouted over a thunderclap in the sky.
"No," Zach said, shaking his head. "I wasn't trying to spy on them like you were! Just some people trying to get out of the rain!"
"No they weren't!" Cloud ground his teeth as he raced faster, turning off of the bridge and heading south as fast as he could. "The big one, that was Barret Wallace!"
"What?" Zach exclaimed in disbelief, "No way! You have to be imagining it!"
"I wasn't! I swear, that was him, and they were heading in the direction of the Magic and Technology Research Division!"
"Holy ----," the other breathed. "You're right; Branch Seven is just a few blocks that way!"
"I know! Look, even if I'm wrong, I have to check it out!"
Zach nodded, fully understanding now. Even if the man Cloud had seen wasn't the notorious terrorist, it had to be investigated. There would be far too much at stake if he was right to simply ignore it, "I'm with you man, lets go after them!"
Through the streets they raced, the claws of their chocobos splashing water and mud up behind them. The entrance to the research center was on the level below them, causing it to take them longer than they'd hoped to reach it. As they galloped to the front of the building it was obvious that the main doors hadn't been tampered with.
"Maybe we beat them here?" Zach offered hopefully.
Clouds head shook beneath his hooded rain cloak. "They were already on this level, even on foot they'd get here first! Let's check around, maybe they went in another way."
Circling the large structure, it became clear that Cloud's suspicion was right; on the west wing of the building a loading door hung open, its lock blown apart by some sort of small explosive. The soldiers dismounted their chocobos and tied them to a pipe nearby. Grabbing their swords, they quietly entered the broken door, finding themselves among a maze of wooden crates stacked ten to fifteen feet high in most cases. Zach crouched down next to the body of a security guard who lay slumped against one box, starting to check his pulse only to find that the mans neck had been snapped. Setting his jaw firm, he stood back up as the two of them silently crept down the rows, using hand signals to communicate as the rain water dripped from their cloaks.
It became apparent that Avalanche had not stayed in this area; other than the guard, nothing here had been tampered with. Cloud was the first to notice wet footprints aimed at a set of metal stairs that ended with a door that was slightly ajar. Nodding to one another, they took the stairs and slowly stepped through the door into a dimly lit hallway. Cloud's glowing eyes gave his face a soft blue tone as they crept along through the darkness, looking to the hallway doors to see if they could find which one the terrorists might have gone through. When they found one that was hanging just slightly open, they glanced to each other with worry on their faces; it was marked with a blue and red "restricted" sign. Without giving their minds time to consider it, they went through; the threat that Avalanche posed was more important than getting chewed out for being in top secret areas of the center.
Cloud and Zach found themselves in another hallway with observation windows further down; below them they could hear voices and the sounds of machinery. Zach signaled left and they started down the hall towards the first window, Cloud crouched beneath it and went to the other side, and then they both leaned slightly and looked through from each side into a vast room below them. They expected to find Barret and his group setting up a bomb, but that was not at all what they witnessed. Avalanche was nowhere to be seen; instead they found themselves looking down at some sort of testing facility. Pipes and wires connected massive machines that were humming loudly; there were men and women in black clothing walking from machine to machine inspecting large blue tubes that seemed to have something inside of them. They looked to each other in confusion over what they were seeing, but it was Zach who made the first conclusion. Pointing to one of the tubes that a man was disconnecting, they watched as multi-colored liquid spewed out for an instance before it was reattached elsewhere.
"Was that what I think it was?" Zach whispered.
"Processed mako," Cloud said in confusion; his mind racing, trying to figure out what he was witnessing.
Discovered decades ago, mako was a magical energy source that came up from the planet in various regions. Over time, mako naturally crystallized into materia stones. These stones could be harnessed for their raw power, but were also used for magic; those not gifted with magic at birth could obtain certain spells when equipped with materia. Although the crystallization of materia from the natural, wispy vapor form of mako could take anywhere from twenty to one hundred years, Shinra scientists had long ago discovered a way to speed up the development of the stones. By turning the mako vapors into a liquid form, known as processed mako, they could then force the crystallization of materia. While materia obtained from processed mako was weaker than its natural counterpart, it took mere months to create rather than decades.
"What are they doing with the stuff?" Cloud wondered aloud. "What's the use in processed mako if they aren't turning it into materia?"
"Who cares?" Zach exclaimed a bit too loudly; luckily the noise from the facility seemed to have kept him from being heard. "We have to find Avalanche before they blow this building sky high!"
"I know!" Cloud's face betrayed his emotions; for some reason what he was seeing seemed eerily familiar to him even though he was certain he'd never seen anything like it before. With this unexplainable recognition, he suddenly felt as if he had to know what was going on. "Look, they're sticking it in those big tubes. Let's see if we can get a better look at what's in them."
"Fine, if that'll get you to move, then let's check fast and get going!" Zach nodded and pointed to another window further down the hallway that was closer to one of the rows of tubes.
Slowly they crept along, crouching low when they passed the windows to minimize the chance of being seen. When they reached the specified pane of glass, they peeked over the edge and down into the room, finding that they were less than ten feet above one of the tubes now. From here they could see down into the liquid filled container, their eyes going wide as they gazed upon a humanoid creature within it. Small tubes and hoses were connected to the creatures grey, blue, and red body, feeding processed mako directly into its flesh. As they watched in horror, the monstrosity thrashed within its glass prison, the long tendrils of flesh coming from its head swinging wildly as its brightly glowing, red eyes widened and it roared, the sound muted by the fluids it floated in.
Zach backed away immediately, pressing his spine to the wall behind him. Avalanche currently forgotten with this sudden and unbelievable discovery, he looked to Cloud with his eyes filled with terror. "That can't be what I think it is!"
Shaking his head, Cloud could think of no response to his friends observation; his mind was in a state of horrible shock that had silenced him completely. Even after five years of Imperial service and countless encounters with monsters, there was only one thing that even remotely resembled the creature he saw in that tank; a demon. Cloud himself had only seen one once. After the demons began appearing twelve years ago, the Divine Emperor, in an attempt to protect his people from such evils, began sending task forces to destroy them whenever they surfaced. Nearly two years ago, Cloud had been on such a mission, and helped kill one of the powerful demonic beasts; he was also one of the few who had returned from that bitter-sweet victory. Whoever these people were, they were pumping mako into some sort of demons within a building of the Holy Shinra Empire; it was utterly unthinkable.
"Emperor Rufus," Cloud whispered as the only possible explanation for this heinous sight came to him. "He left today; they must be trying to do something while he's away so he won't catch them."
"They couldn't set all this up in one day, man!"
"Well what else do you want me to say?" Cloud hissed. "We have to get out of here and tell some one, the Divine Emperor has to be warned about this!"
Just as Cloud finished speaking, commotion erupted on the facility floor, his eyes darted to where one of the men was pointing and yelling in their direction. He realized that that they'd been spotted as he watched one of the women point a device with a large, blue crystalline sphere in the center of it at them. A caster sphere; their presence in this restricted area had now been recorded, but that was the last thing on Cloud's mind.
"----!" He exclaimed as he saw one of the men race to a tube and open it. Zach stood back up and looked out the window with him as liquid rushed out of the container and the demon within it lunged from the machine, the mako tubes ripping from its body as it landed on the floor. The man who had freed it pointed to Cloud again and the monster began running towards them.
"----!" Cloud yelled again, this time much louder. Grabbing Zach's arm, he pulled his friend away from the window and they both began running back the way they'd come. Behind them they could hear the shattering of glass as the demon leapt up from the lower level and crashed through the window they had stood at as if it had taken no effort at all. As they darted back out of the restricted section their impressive skills and cockiness were forgotten. Being chased by a demon being enhanced inside of a building they were sworn to protect caused them to feel just as scared as rookies again.
A loud click and a beep signified the beginning of the end of the Sector Seven Magic and Technology Research Center. Within ten minutes two small materia orbs would collide, resulting in an explosion that would trigger the highly flammable liquids and solids inside of the small box. In ten minutes, this bomb, which Jessie had scribbled a middle finger on, would explode just beneath the central pillars of the building and bring the entire structure down. There would be no survivors; not the demons in their tubes, nor the deranged scientists who were working on them. Everything here would be lost in a fiery blast that would shake the very foundations of Sector Seven and leave nothing but ash and wreckage in its wake.
The first step of their mission completed, the four members of Avalanche went onto the second; getting the hell out of here before they became a part of the fireworks. Barret and his trio ran back to the stairs that had brought them down, passing the bodies of a pair of guards from earlier who'd been too curious for their own good. They had just entered the hallway to the storage area when they heard a loud crash somewhere nearby. Stopping dead in his tracks, Barret watched as the door to the experimentation chamber that he'd peeked in earlier was thrown open and two young men dressed in elite Shinra Special Ops uniforms bolted out. For a split second Barret readied to fight them, but the soldiers didn't even see them; instead they hurried down the hallway away from them towards the same exit Avalanche was heading for.
"What the-" his thoughts were cut off as the answer to it all became very clear when one of the mako enhanced demons flew out of the door and lay chase after the two soldiers.
"One of them got out!" Biggs helpfully pointed out.
Wasting no time, Barret took off after the beast at a full run, "Come on, we gotta help them!"
"Why?" Jessie exclaimed as she fell in place behind him. "They're Imperial soldiers!"
"I don't care! That thing is chasing them, I doubt that means they're on this center's list of friends!"
Ahead of them, the soldiers fled into the storage area and nearly fell down the steps in their rush. The demon gained on them and grabbed the black haired youth by his arm, tackling him to the ground. Barret leapt down the stairs as the demon raised its clawed hand to strike the terrified boy, but its attack never came. Darting towards it the moment his feet were back on the ground, Barret wound back his black gloved hand and slammed it into the demon's jaw. For a moment it only reeled as it would from any hit, but then a strange greenish shockwave seemed to ripple through the air between Barret's fist and its face and the beast was sent flying. The smell of burning flesh and blood flooded the air as the demon flew straight through four stacks of crates until it finally came to a stop as the wooden boxes toppled down, crushing it to a lifeless pulp.
Barret began to turn to the black haired soldier when the blond one jumped in front of him, sword in hand. For a moment he paused completely, staring at the young soldier's eyes that glowed in a strange fashion. Then, remembering the situation they were in, the Avalanche leader put that out of his mind and shook his head, "Put it down boy, it's not worth it."
"You're Barret Wallace!" the soldier yelled. "You're a criminal; a terrorist!"
"And he just saved your life, jackass!" Jessie shouted angrily as her and the others lined up beside their boss in his defense.
The furious looking soldier started to respond with something cocky, but broke off to look back to his friend, who had just stood up and was rubbing at his arm where the demon had grabbed him earlier.
"Look, boy," Barret growled. "We have to get out of here, now! This place is going down any minute now!"
That spark renewed in the blond's glowing eyes and his sword rose higher as he stared Barret down. "Stop calling me 'boy'! I'm a member of Special Ops, and if you don't tell me where your bomb is I swear I'll cut you down here and now!"
Despite the urgency of the situation, Barret was impressed. The boy was obviously tougher than he looked. "You got heart, kid, but your title and experience don't mean anything to me. Do you really want to let the things you must have saw back there go on? If you really care about this Empire then you don't want those crazy fools and their little pets living another minute!"
"Don't talk down to us, you damn criminal!" The black haired youth angrily chimed in. "What about the others who work here? They may be innocent of all of this! We'll bring the army into this, and then none of them have to die!"
"You talk big, but you don't know ----!" Barret barked, "I'm sorry if you're too naive to understand, but your army can't do a thing to them because your whole Empire is corrupt! This is the only way to do it, and if innocents die in the process then that's a shame, but it's an acceptable loss! Innocent blood is spilt all the time in your war with Wutai, but that's okay because they don't believe in Rufus, right? Don't you dare be so holy with me when you're a part of that!"
Neither of the soldiers responded to him this time, his words had probably hit the one thing they had been trying to avoid thinking about; that what they had seen was authorized by the Empire and not just a band of rogue mad scientists. They were most likely too confused by all of this to think clearly. Barret could sympathize; he remembered when he'd been in that same position. He knew what it was like to see things that were impossible to explain without questioning everything he knew about the Empire, but he was brought back to the present as Jessie grabbed his arm.
"Boss, we have to go. Now."
Nodding, Barret looked back to the confused young soldiers, "We don't have time for this. If you want to stay and try to save those sorry bastards, then be my guest, but I promise that you won't be able to, and I know they aren't worth losing your lives over. Me and my pals aren't planning on dying here, so we're getting out."
Walking past them, Barret closed his eyes and titled his head down, his brows furrowing as painful memories flooded through his head. The two soldiers just stood there in a mixture of fear and anger as they watched Avalanche go by. Their trust in everything they'd ever known had been shaken by something they should have never seen and he remembered exactly how that felt. Jessie, Biggs, and Wedge followed him as he quickly headed for the broken door that they'd first entered, none of them were quite as concerned about the young Imperial soldiers; they were the enemy, after all. As they left the building and started running for cover, a small, bitter sweet smile touched his lips as he saw the soldiers follow them out and begin running along behind them.
The strange mixture of soldiers and wanted criminals ran as fast as their legs could carry them, ducked into an alley and covered their ears as the young girl yelled that it was time. Not far behind them there was an explosive sound that ripped through the rainy night sky and shook the ground all around them; dirt and mud rained down from the walls as Sector Seven was rocked. Relatively safe at this distance, and behind the cover of the stone walls that they were between, they waited out the destruction. The three story, five city block complex collapsed in on itself, a pillar of fire erupting from the center and shooting high into the sky, illuminating miles of the city of Midgar in orange and red light. Several minutes later, as the ruination of the research building began to quiet down and people ran outside of their homes in shock to see what had transpired, Cloud and Zach looked to each other, trying unsuccessfully to figure out what they were going to do.
"Why were you in there?" Barret Wallace, the most wanted man in the city of Midgar and the man who had just simultaneously saved their lives and destroyed part of the Empire they were sworn to protect, straightened himself up and looked to the two of them. "Why'd you decide to go sight seeing in a restricted area?"
Zach curled his lips, shaking his head in anger at the mans nerve. "We were following you! We saw you and knew you were going to go and blow something up again, and we were going to stop you!"
"Trying to be heroes, huh?" the girl behind Barret added spitefully. "Did a hell of a job."
"Stop it, Jessie." Barret said to her before Cloud or Zach could retaliate. The terrorist leader looked at them with pity on his face. "When they saw you in there, what happened?"
"One of them aimed a caster at us," Cloud said in an agitated tone, wondering even as he spoke why he was cooperating with this despicable man, "and then they let that thing out to chase us."
"The caster was probably linked directly to the Turks." He looked back up at them, and despite their anger they could see genuine sympathy in his eyes. "You're marked now. You've seen too much. They'll be here any minute to track you down and kill you."
Cloud's eyes narrowed as he shook his head, "You expect us to buy this conspiracy theory crap? The Turks work for the betterment of the Empire; if they're coming then I can't wait till they get here so I can tell them what I saw!"
"I'm sorry, but you don't understand. I was just like you one time; young and naive, thinking that evil was something that happened in other places, not in this Empire. I was wrong, and so are you. They're coming for you right now, and they won't rest until you're dead."
Suddenly realizing what he was getting at, Jessie interrupted, "Wait a minute, boss! You're not thinking-"
"Shut up, Jessie." Barret quietly said as he kept his eyes on the two of them. "Look, you have to make a choice. I'm sorry to be the one to break this to you, but your lives as you knew them are over, here and now. You have two options, and neither one is all that fun. You can go back to being good little Imperials and try to tell your higher ups about what you saw in there before the Turks catch you and silence you. Or you can come with us; you can hear our side of the story, find out all the little things they don't want you to know, and then make a decision once you've heard the truth. Either way, everything you knew when you woke up this morning is ----ed and gone; at least if you go with us, you'll have a fighting chance."
Cloud and Zach looked at each other in confusion while their minds raced; all of this was happening too fast. Still, they were members of the Imperial Army. No matter what doubts they had right now, they knew they couldn't just go with Avalanche; they'd be considered criminals. Zach started to tell Barret to take his conspiracy theory and shove it; he and Cloud would go back to their station and tell all of this to Lieutenant General Zahn, and he'd straighten it all out. Then, from somewhere above them, a sound rang out, and a small chunk of the wall next to Zach's head exploded. Chips of stone flew out from the initial blast and the fresh hole in the wall was burnt black.
"Turks!" Barret shouted, knowing that the strange burnt hole in the wall was the result of the unique, magic firing weapons called guns that only members of the Intelligence Agency carried with them. He reached out and grabbed Cloud and Zach by their cloaks, pulling them further into the alley as the entire group started running. Zach ducked his head low as several more loud pings were heard and more magic rounds crashed into the walls around them.
Cloud looked behind him in shock and saw a man at the entrance to the alley wearing the signature blue suit, white shirt, and black tie of the Turks, just before they rounded a corner. There were only two reasons the Turks would be shooting at them; either they thought that he and Zach were helping Avalanche, or Barret was telling the truth. Neither of those thoughts were very appealing. From ahead of him, Jessie pulled something out of her belt and tossed it back towards the Turk as Barret began prying open a manhole cover and ushering everyone down into the cities sewage system. There was a loud boom that shook the alley, nearly covering up the spew of expletives from the Turk who had apparently avoided being hit by the grenade. The walls of the alley began to crash down, stopping the gunman from following them as Zach hesitated for a few seconds before he jumped down into the manhole.
Cloud stood there, probably thinking the same thing Zach just had. His mind was telling him not to go down, but he knew that right now he had no other option; the Turks wouldn't give him time to explain now that he'd been seen with Avalanche. All he could do for now was run with them and try to figure out what to do later, so he went down the ladder, followed by Barret who closed the lid back overtop of them. Biggs chanted a spell, a light appearing in his hand as he began leading them all down the murky waters. The Turks had made Cloud and Zach's choice for them; for now, they were with Avalanche.
Tifa had been sleeping when it happened. As she lay there in her bed, curled up in a black night gown, dreaming of friends and family who were long gone, the Seventh Heaven bar shook and the night sky outside of her window became as bright as the day. Reflexes kicking in, she leapt up and onto the ground, her muscled but still slender arms moving up into a combat stance as she tried to blink her sleepiness away. It took her a few seconds to realize that no one was there, and that whatever was going on was happening outside. Rushing to her window, she looked out over Midgar Sector Seven; in the distance she could see a pillar of fire blazing up into the air between her bar and the city gates. She found herself terrified, knowing full well that the explosion must have been gigantic to be seen at this distance; she had never heard of any accident that large in Sector Seven, especially not so close to her home.
Racing out of her tiny bedroom, she headed downstairs and into the darkness of the bar. As her eyes began to adjust she was able to find the glass tube set into a wooden box that was her caster receiver. As her fingertips danced over the controls, the tube burst to life, lighting up the bar in pale blue, but there were no images being displayed; whatever had happened, the Caster News Network hadn't yet reported on it. Sitting down on a bar stool, she found herself worrying without reason about Cloud and Zach; they would have been heading that way to leave, but they would have been out of the city by now, certainly no where near whatever had caused that explosion. She decided to stay there and watch for a little longer to see if anything came on the receiver, but it wasn't long before she'd dozed off, her head laying on the smooth surface of the bar.
Nearly an hour later, a loud knocking came on the bars doors. Startled awake, her head jerked up as she blinked burgundy eyes and looked around, realizing that it was still dark. Confused as to what anyone would be doing here in the middle of the night, she walked to the front of the room and looked out the window to see four men in blue suits standing on her porch. Recognizing the uniforms, she opened the door, now fearing that something had in fact happened to her two friends.
Confirming her suspicions about their identities, the one who'd been knocking held up an ID tag to her as she looked them over.
"My name is Marx," said the man, who had slicked back, black hair, thin glasses and a scar beneath his left eye. "We are members of the Turks Intelligence Agency. Are you Tifa Lockheart?"
Nodding slowly, her heart filling with a sense of dread Tifa quietly responded. "Yes. What's this about?"
Marx placed his ID into a pocket on his suit coat before folding his hands below his torso, "Miss Lockheart, are you an acquaintance of two men by the names of Zach Bran and Cloud Strife?"
Tifa's fingertips dug into the wall that she was leaning against, her eyes widening with worry. "Yes, I am. Has something happened to them?"
Marx nodded to his fellow agents and two of them pushed past Tifa and surrounded her. She looked around at them, her worry dulled by confusion at their actions.
"What's going on?" she asked.
"Miss Lockheart," Marx continued. "I am placing you under arrest pending an investigation into your relationship with former members of the Imperial Army, Bran and Strife, who were recorded by a caster in a restricted area of the Sector Seven Magic and Technology Research Center minutes before it was destroyed."
"What!" Tifa exclaimed in shock as the two Turks behind her grasped her arms and began placing a pair of binds on her wrists.
"After the explosion, your friends were seen with the terrorist organization Avalanche, and we believe they aided in infiltrating and destroying the center. As you appear to be their closest friend, it is likely that you are also involved with Avalanche. You will be taken to the Sector Seven Prison Complex and interrogated. It would be in your best interest to cooperate as it may reduce your possible sentence to something less severe for those who commit treason against the Holy Shinra Empire."
Staring at the Turk in shock, Tifa said nothing. As they began leading her away from her home and business to a prisoner transport they had brought with them, all she could hope for was that they had made some terrible mistake and it would all be straightened out. Cloud and Zach couldn't be terrorists, they just couldn't be.